SPLM-N Agar included in UN list of child protection: spokesperson

October 9, 2017 (KHARTOUM) - The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/North led by Malik Agar (SPLM-N Agar) said it received a letter from the United Nations stating the Movement has been included in the list of organizations collaborating to protect children in conflict zones.

On 30 June 2015, the SPLM-N signed the Geneva Call’s Deed of Commitment for the Protection of Children (DCPC) and became the first African armed non-State actor (ANSA) to commit to child protection.

The Commitment is a mechanism developed by the Geneva Call, allowing the signatories from the rebel groups that cannot become parties to international treaties, to agree to respect a set of norms related to child protection and provide them with the aid and care they require.

In a statement extended to Sudan Tribune Monday, SPLM-N Agar spokesperson Mubarak Ardol welcomed the move, expressing readiness to collaborate with the UN to complete the remaining steps to protect children and women in conflicts zones.

He added that chairman Agar received a letter from the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) congratulating the Movement on the inclusion of its name in the list of organizations collaborating to protect children in conflict zones.

Ardol pointed out that the SPLM-N had earlier established a commission for the protection of children and women in war zones, pointing to the signing of the DCPC in 2015.

He also added that Agar had signed the joint plan for the protection of children in conflict zones in Geneva in the presence of the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict Leila Zerrougui and the UNICEF resident representative in Sudan Abdallah El-Fadil.

The Sudanese army has been fighting the SPLM-N rebels in the Blue Nile and South Kordofan, also known as the Two Areas since 2011.

The SPLM-N is now divided into two factions: one in the Nuba Mountains led by Abdel Aziz al-Hilu and the other in the Blue Nile State led by Agar. The rift emerged several months ago over the right of self-determination and other organisational issues.

(ST)

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